Seminar in Thinking and Writing (LA101)

Requirement for Celebration of Writing:

• Create a free-standing display (like a science fair project, that I can take to the room and set up for you) OR some other physical component that you can set up yourself; either way, a physical component should be displayed the entire 2 hours of the event.
• Spend 30 minutes in Cecilian Hall, actively presenting a project
• Spend another 30 minutes experiencing other presentations
• If asked, please help set up and take down our class table
• Respond to a Moodle prompt about the experience (TBA)

Project Rubric

• Physical Component (Appealing/Creative, Informative/Deep)
  • Could be a tri-fold poster board, a poster taped on the edge of a table, a still life arrangement, whatever.
  • Displayed the entire 2 hours of the event.
  • Set up and taken down (I will happily set up and take down a tri-fold display board for you, but you’ll need to work out other arrangements)
• Presentation Component (Appealing/Creative, Informative/Deep)
  • Could be an informal speech (a 2-minute “elevator pitch”), a short video, an opinion poll, a game-show style Q and A…
  • You might first ask your visitor to answer a question about a topic, then you might speak for 60 seconds on a topic, and then you might ask your visitor a follow-up question (have you changed your mind? are you more likely to agree/disagree, are you more or less sure of your answer now?)
  • Use your presentation to test out some elements of the argument you are working on for your term paper
• Observation Component (Thorough, Insightful, Well-written)
  • Brief responses to Moodle prompts that ask you to reflect on presentations that you saw during the Celebration of Writing event
• Reflection Component (Thorough, Insightful, Well-written)
  • Brief response to Moodle promptes that ask you to reflect on your own contribution to the Celebration of Writing

What If I Can’t Make It to the Celebration of Writing?

• By Friday Nov 11, submit to me
  • A 2-minute video (recorded on your MacBook Pro) that I can play at our class table
  • A 200-word paragraph about what you have learned so far in STW
  • A photo to go along with the statement (it could be a photo of yourself, the space where you write, something you talk about in your research, etc.)
• In the Moodle following the Celebration of Writing, respond to the prompts after viewing a video I will show you (TBA)

2-minute informal presentations.